1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a method for enhancing an interaction between graphene nanoparticles and a poly(styrene-co-methylmethacrylate) and to a blend composition obtained by the method.
2. Description of Related Art
Graphene, a single layer sp2-hybridized carbon atom arranged in a two dimensional densely packed honeycomb crystal lattice, has opened a new outstanding and cost-effective corridor to formulate a broad variety of novel nanomaterials. See S. Park, S. R Rodney. Chemical methods for the production of graphenes. Nat Nanotechnol 2009; 4: 217, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The remarkable properties of graphene with low cost of source (graphite) have attracted interest in developing high performance and low cost polymer nanocomposites. See H. Kim, A. A Abdala, C. W Macosko. Graphene/polymer nanocomposites. Macromolecules 2010; 43:6515; K. Tapas, S. Bhadra, D. Yao, N. H Kim, S. Bose, J. H Lee. Recent Advances in Graphene Based Polymer Composites. Prog Polym Sci 2010; 35:1350; S. R Rodney, R. P Jeffrey, R. D Daniel, W. B Christopher. Graphene-Based Polymer Nanocomposites, Polymer 2011; 52:5-25, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Chemical modification or functionalization of graphene such as oxidation of graphene by adding oxygen functionalities, such as hydroxyl, carboxylic acid and other organic groups, such as phenyl isocynate, prophyrin and epoxy groups has been recently investigated, to succeed full exploitation of graphene properties in the polymer nanocomposites. See C. Dongyu, S. Mo. Recent advance in functionalized graphene/polymer nanocomposites. J Mater Chem 2010; 20:7906-7915; S. R Rodney, S. Stankovich, D. P Richard, T. N Son. Synthesis and exfoliation of isocyanate-treated graphene oxide nanoplatelets. Carbon 2006; 44:3342-3347; X. Yanfei, L. Zhibo, Z. Xiaoliang, W. Yan, T. Jianguo, H. Yi, M. Yanfeng, Z. Xiaoyan, C. Yongsheng. A Graphene Hybrid Material Covalently Functionalized with Porphyrin: Synthesis and Optical Limiting Property. Adv Mater 2009; 21:1275-1279; A. B Bourlinos, D. Gournis, D. Petridis, T. Szabo, A. Szeri, I. Dekany. Graphite oxide: Chemical reduction to graphite and surface modification with primary aliphatic amines and amino acids. Langmuir 2003; 19:6050-6055, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Functionalized graphene possess similar properties as graphene except a partly damaged carbon structure and the functionalities present on the surface may respond to the improvement of dispersion of graphene and interfacial interaction between graphene and a polymer matrix.
Irradiation technique has been employed for the modification of structural, electrical, mechanical, chemical and other desired properties of polymer nanocomposites. See Z. R Min, Q. Z Ming, X. Z Yong, M. Z Han, R. Walter, K. Friedrich. Structure-property relationships of irradiation grafted nano-inorganic particle filled polypropylene composites. Polymer 2001; 42:167-183; K. Satyendra, S. Paramjit, R. G Sonkawade, A. Kamlendra, K. Rajesh. 60 MeV Ni ion induced modifications in nano-CdS/polystyrene composite film. Radiation Physics and Chemistry 2013; unpublished; Q. Anjum, N. L Singh, A. K Rakshit, F Singh, V Ganesan. Ion beam modification and analysis of organometallics dispersed polymer film. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research 2006; B244:235-238; W. Bibo, S. Lei, H. Ningning, T. Qilong, L. Hongdian, H. Yuan. Effect of electron beam irradiation on the mechanical and thermal properties of intumescent flame retarded ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer/organically modified montmorillonite nanocomposites. Radiation Physics and Chemistry 2011; 80:1275-1281, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The radiation mechanism accounts for the generation of free radicals on the polymer chains, and induced defects on graphene. See G. Olgun. An overview of current developments in applied radiation chemistry of polymers. Proceeding of technical meeting, IAEA. 2004; T. Desalegne, B. Alexander. Modification of graphene properties due to electron-beam irradiation. App PhysLett 2009; 94:013101; H. Ting, L. Jiangyou, Z. Minlin, J. Juan, Y. Xiaohui, L. Zhe, L. Lin. The effects of low power density CO2 laser irradiation on graphene properties. Applied Surface Science 2013; 273:502-506; C. Giuseppe, G. Filippo, S. Sushant, R. Vito, R. Emanuele. Ion irradiation and defect formation in single layer graphene. Carbon 2009; 47:3201-3207, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This responds to the major reactions like cross-linking, chain scission (degradation) and grafting in polymer nanocomposites, which may result in the improvement of the interfacial interaction between a polymer matrix and graphene. See F. R Jan. Photo degradation of Polymers (physical characteristics and application), Chapter 3, 60-66. Springer. 1996, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.